Giving investors more choice in real estate

Property is considered to be a relatively conservative investment. Why has Crowdberry chosen to focus on the area of real estate when you have experience primarily in financing Slovak and Czech companies?

From an investment perspective, we consider the property segment to be just as interesting as investing in companies. We enable people to directly own a stake in a particular property, to participate using a smaller investment amount in larger projects, to become a partner of a professional developer, and to share in the returns from developments, leasing or sales. Investors can choose a property on the basis of a broad analysis and detailed materials prepared by the Crowdberry team, as well as a face-to-face meeting with the partner’s representative. We have under our belt, for example, the successfully financed Seniorhouse project, comprising a modern centre providing care for the elderly and people suffering from Alzheimer’s disease with 150 beds and grounds covering 20,000 m2. Over the summer, with our partner Atrios real estate, we introduced an investment in an apartment building with 29 units in the wider centre of Bratislava. We also opened up several other opportunities in the area of industrial properties, where we combine our experience and set mechanisms from investing in companies. Property should be part of an investor’s standard portfolio. Even though property investments are more conservative, they can appeal to investors due to the attractiveness of projects and, in the case of higher-risk profiles such as development, bring higher returns.

Higher returns are associated with higher risk. How do you want to appeal to investors?

We can offer the possibility of becoming a co-investor in a property with a professional partner – usually a developer – and to share in the profit from the development, leasing or sales. As co-owners, investors have the opportunity to play a direct role in the growth of the given property and the success of the developer. We set up and select investments so that they have a clearly defined return horizon for investors, protection of liquidity, and other tools to protect their investments, including protection of the given property against inflation, for example.

The investment opportunities on Crowdberry’s platform undergo a thorough selection process. We prepare a detailed analysis for investors with respect to several important criteria. We look at not only the location, partner/developer and tenants, but also the development of individual sectors and macro indicators.

What is the difference between investing in real estate funds and investing in development projects via Crowdberry?